Duke  University  Libraries 

The  wounded  sol 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #517 


No.   88. 

THE  WOUNDED  SOLDIER, 


BY    REV.    JOHN    E.    EDWARDS. 


In  the  curlier  part  of  the  bloody  war  now  raffing  in  the 
land,  (he  hare  sight  of  a  wounded  soldier  awakened  the 
liveliest,  sympathy  in  the  bosom  cf  every  beholder.  No 
matter  where  he  was  met- -in  the  railroad  car,  in  th?  hospi- 
tal, upon  the  street,  or  in  the  domestic  circle — a  re  iponsive 
chord  whs  touched  in  every  heart,  and  the  father  v,  uli  grey 
bairs,  and  the  mother,  bearing  the  marks  of  "  wrinkled 
care  "  upon  her  brow,  young  men  and  maidens  vied  with 
other  to  relieve  the  sufferer,  and  contribute  something 
to  his  comfort  and  restoration  to  soundness  again.  One  of 
the  sad  effects  of  the  progress  of  this  terrible  war  jl*s  been 
to  deaden  our  sympathies,  and  make  us  more  selfish  than 
we  were  when  the  tocsin  of  the  battle-strife  first  sounded  in 
the  'and.  Neither  men  nor  women  are  a3  eager  now  as 
formerly  to  give  the  best  seat,  in  the  car  to  the  wounded 
soldier — to  yield  the  pavement  on  the  side-walk,  lest  he 
should  be  jostled — to  stand  by  his  couch  of  suffering — to 
apply  the  refreshing  cordial  to  his  lips,  and  the  cooling  water 
to  his  wounds.  Perhaps  this  state  of  public  feeling  was 
to  have  been  anticipated.  The  frequency  with  which  we 
meet  the  wounded  in  a  battle,  and  the  long  time  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  meet  them,  has  robbed  the  spectacle  of 
its  novelty,  and,  by  a  law  of  our  bein^,  has  taken   off  the 


edge  of  our  sensibilities.  And  yet,  the.  wounded  s  ddier  is 
an  object  of  interest.  Ever)  patriotic  heart  in  our  South- 
ern Confederacy  beats  with  a  quicker  pulse,  and  glows  with 
a  Warmer  devotion  to  our  struggle  for  independence,  at  the 
hight  ol  i be  brave  man — be  he  officer  or  private,  young  or 
old — from  his  mansion  of  elegance  or  his  home  of  poverty — 
who  has  been  wounded  in  the  defence  of  our  cause  against 
.  an  aggressive  and  despotic  power.  Whether  stretched  upon 
his  bunk  in  the  hospital,  with  shattered  bones  or  amputa- 
ted limbs;  whether  his  features  are  distorted  with  agonizing 
pain,  or  vary  in  expression,  as,  in-  his  unbroken  slumbers, 
he  dreams  of  home  and  friends  far  away  ;  whether  with 
hand  in  sling,  or  splinted  arm,  or  ban,daged  brow  ;  whether 
he  bend  on  his  cane,  or  hobble  with  a  crutch,  or  limp  as  he 
leans  on  the  arm  of  his  friend,  or  sits  in  pensive  sadness  by 
the  wayside,  he  is  an  object  of  interest  to  the  passer-by; 
and,  in  very  many  instances,  of  much  deeper  interest  than 
is  supposed  by^the  wounded  soldier  himself. 

You,  my  friendly  reader,  I  take  it  for  granted,  are  a 
wounded  soldier.  As  such  I  address  you.  It  matters  not 
when  or  where  the  death-dealing  missile  of  the  enemy 
struck  you — whether  in  the  hard  fought  battle,  or  in  the 
hotly  contested  skirmish  ;  whether  in  the  successive  engage- 
ments in  the  Valley  and  among  the  mountains  of  Virginia, 
or  in  the  protracted  series  of  bloody  battles  before  Rich- 
mond ;  whether  among  the  swamps  aud  lagoons  of  the 
South,  or  beyond  the  Mississ;ppi  in  the  West ;  whether  at 
Shiloh  or  Donelson — no  matter  when  or  where,  you  are  a 
wounded  soldier.  Nor  is  it  material  whether  the  wound  be 
slight  or.  severe;  whether  it  shall  barely  leave  a  scar,  or 
send  you  upon  your  crutch  to  the  grave.  At  present,  what- 
ever be  the  character  or  extent  of  the  wound,  you  are  off' of 
duty.  You  spend  your  tipie  in  the  hospital, ,  or  in  the  pri- 
vate residence  of  a  friend,  or  at  your  own  quiet  home.  You 
.  are  looking  forward  to  a  partial  recovery  and  a  final  dis- 
charge from  the  service,  or  to  restoration  to  your  accustom- 
ed soundness,  and  a  return  to  duty  again.  You  are  wholly 
or  partially  confined!  In  any  event,  you  have  time  for  re- 
flection, for  reading,  and,  if  a  Christian,  for  profitable  medi- 
tation and  prayer. 


.  3 

What  effect  has  your  wounding  had  upon  you  ?  is  the 
question  I  propound  to  you.  It  were  unfortunate  if  it 
merely  led  to  a  flippant  remark,  and  in  a  feeling  of  self-con- 
gratulation that,  for  a  while,  you  would  be  released  from 
the  hardships  of  the  camp  and  the  dangers  of  battle. 

"  The  wound  is  very  slight/'  say  you.  "It  would  be  fool- 
ish and  farcical  for  me  to  be  serious  and  thoughtful  about  il . 
I  was  lucky.  The  casualty  might  have  been  much  worse." 
An  Atheist  might  use  such  language ;  or  even  a  Deist,  who 
discards  the  doctrine  of  God's  special  providence  over  us. 
But  such  language  is  not  befitting  the  lips  of  one  who  be- 
lieves the  Bible,  and  who  has  been  favored  with  a  religious 
education.  Do  you  not  know  that  the  Great  Teacher  sent 
from  God,  has  taught  you  that  "  the  very  hairs  of  your  lu  ad 
are  all  numbered,"  and  that  *"  a  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  1 1n- 
ground  without  your  heavenlv  Father?"  Your  life  is  in 
the  hands  of  God,  and,  of  consequence,  all  the  little  inci- 
dents and  events  that  in  any  way  affect  your  life,  The 
wound  of  which  you  speak  so  lightly  should  not  be  put  do\%  n 
to  the  credit  of  mere  luck  or  chance.  You  should  rather 
regard  it  as  a  merciful  providence  of  God  that  it  was  not 
worse.  Some  that  were^n ear  you  in  the  struggle,  while  the 
death-shots  were  whistling  around  you,  and  the  bursting. 
shells  were  shrieking  like  fiends  of  hell  above  you,  Sustained 
tar  more  serious  damage  than  yourself.  You  should  be 
grateful  that  you  fared  so  well.  God's  good  hand,  in  preserv- 
ing you,  should  be  devoutly  recognized  and  acknoweledged. 
The  slightly  wounded,  who  speak  in  terms  of  merriment  and 
bravado  of  the  loss  of  a  finger  or  a  mere  scratch  from  the 
fragment  of  a  shell,  may  be  a  fearless  soldier,  but  is  greatly 
wanting  in  Christian  sentiment,  and  is  deficient  in  the  ele- 
ments of  a  Bible  education. 

Again,  it  were  to  be  deplored  if  your  wounding  has  had 
the  effect  to  embitter  your  feelings,  and  render  you  crabbed 
and  morose.  Too  many,  under  painful  dispensations 
of  Providence,  turn  the  edge  of  an  unsubdued  temper  against 
God,  and  becomesour  and  acrimonious  towards  those  around 
them.  It  is  foolish  to  murmur  against  God.  "  Why  should. 
ft  living,  man  complain  ?"     Rather  thank  God   that  you  are 


not  dead.  The  shot  or  shell  that  bereft  you  ot  a  limb,  or 
disfigured  your  face,  or  inflicted  a  painful  and  serious  wound 
upon  your  body,  might  have  entered  a  vital  part,  and  hurried 
you  instantly  into  eternity.  "What  a  God's  mercy  that  your 
life  was  spared — that  your  probation  was  not  suddenly  ter 
minated — that  you  were  not,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  has 
tened  to  your  reward  in  another  state  of  being!  Bow  down 
with  cheerful  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  and  solemnly  puv- 
pose,'by  His  grace  to  derive  moral  lessons  from  the  provi- 
dence whu»h  has  -permitted  you  to  be  disabled.  It  may  be 
turned  to  good  account  in  your  moral  discipline ;  and  in  the 
day  of  eternity  you  may  have  occasion  to  thank  God  for 
that,  over  which  you  now  so  bitterly  complain.  If  yon 
have  not  learned  to  go  to  Jesus  with  your  sufferings,  <gt 
now.  Remember  that  "He  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 
sions, He  wis  bruised  for  iniquities  " — that  He  hath  borne 
our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows" — that  His  hands,  and 
feet,  and  heart  were<pierced;  and  that  "upon  Him  was  laid 
the  iniquity  of  us  all."  He  knows  how  to  sympathize  with 
you.  His  love  never  grows  cold.  His  heart  of  tenderness 
is  always  responsive  to  the  eries  of  a  wounded  and  a  con- 
trite spirit.  Your  sufferings,  great  as  they  are,  do  not 
exceed  your  deserts.  As  a  sinner,  you  have  offended  God, 
and  wounded  Christ,  and  grieved  His  Spirit,  and  might, 
long  since,  have  been  consigned  to  the  perdition  of  hell. 

It  may  be  that  Infinite  Wisdom  and  Goodness  foresaw  that 
nothing  less  than  the  calamity  under  which  you  are  now 
suffering  would  bring  you  to  repentance  and  salvation. — 
God's  design  is  to  bring  good  out  of  this  temporary  evil  1o 
you.  You  may  frustrate  His  beneficent  purpose.  You 
may  harden  yourself,  and  grow  from  bad  to  worse.  On  the 
other  hand,  you  may  submit  yourself  to  the  chastening  rod  of 
your  Heavenly  Father,  and  find  that  you  derive  "the peace- 
able fruits  of  righteousness,"  which  result  to  those  who  are 
properly  exercised  under  His  correction.  If  your  heart  re- 
lents— if  you,  feel  that  you  have  "  the  broken  spirit  and  the 
contrite  heart" — if  you  feel  sorry  for  your  sins,  and  purpose 
to  give  them  all  up,  at  onee  and  forever  ;  then  go  at  once  to 
Him  who  has 


"  A  sovereign  balm  for  every  wou.\d, 
A  cordial  for  our  fears  ;" 

and  while  the  words  of  penitent  confession  are  on  your  lips, 
faith  will  spring  up  spontaneously  in  the  heart  under  the 
influence  of  Divine  grace,  and  you  will  find,  to  the  joy  of 
your  disconsolate  spirit,  that 

"  Earth  hath  no  sor:ow  that  Heaven  cannot  heal." 

You  are  in  great  danger  of  becoming  hardened  under  your 
sufferings.  There  is  a  foolish  noiion,  too  prevalent  among 
soldiers,  that  it  is  unmanly  to  manifest  any  feeling  under  the 
pressure  of  bereavment  or  mental  distress — -that  it  is  nnsol- 
.  dierly  to  exhibit  any  emotion  under  the  most  excruciating 
pain — that  it  is  womanly  and  childish  to  weep.  Too  man) 
have  made  up  their  minds  that  a  profession  of  religion  is 
incompatible  with  the  profession  of  arms.  This  is  all  a  mis- 
take. The  New  Testament  furnishes  us  with  some  of  the 
most  illustrious  examples  of  godly  lives,  and  of  all-conquering 
faith,  among  the  soldiery  in  the  days  of 'our  Saviour  up<  a 
this  earth.  Cornelius,  mentioned  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  was  "  a  centurion  [captain]  of  the  band 
called  the  Italian  band.  A  devout  man,,  and  one  that 
God  with  all  his  house,  which  gave  much  alms  to  the  people, 
and  prayed  to  God  always."  This  Cornelius  seut  "a 
soldier  "  with  his  household  servants,  after  Feter,  who  was  to 
open  the  gospel  ministry  at  Cesarea.  Again,  in  theeeventh 
cnapter  of  Matthew,  we  have  a  case  recorded  of  Christ's 
healing  the  servant  of  a  centurion,  or  mililaiy  officer,  in  which 
he  passed  the  highest  commendation  upon  his  faith.  It  is 
recorded  that,  when  Jesus  heard  what  the  centurion  said, 
"  he  marveled,  and  said  to  them  that  followed,  Verily,  1  say 
unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so  greatfaith,  no,  not  in  Israel/' 

A  life  of  piety  is  not  incompatible  with  the  profession  of 
arms.  True  religion  does  not  interfere  with  a"  man's  duties 
to  his  conntry.  On  the  contrary,  it  einiuently  qualifies  him 
for  the  faithful  discharge  of  those  duties.  Discard,  there- 
fore, the  notion  that  you  cannot  be  a  Christian  while    in    the 


military  service  of  your  country.  Banish  the  idea  that  it  is 
unmanly  to  weep,  or  to  exhibit  any  concern  upon  the  subject 
of  religion.  Washington  was  a  Christian.  Havelock  was 
as  eminent  for  his  piety  as  for  his  bravery.  Yield  to  those 
feelings  that  now  lead  you  to  bow  in  penitence  at  the  Cross. 
Embrace  Christ  Jesus  as  your  Redeemer,  Saviour,  Friend. 
Defer  it  not  for  a  single  hour.  Come  to  Jesus  just  as  you. 
are — 

"  Bruised  and  mangled  by  the  fall ; 

If  you  tarry  till  you're  better, 
You  will  never  come  at  all." 

"  Now -is  the  accepted  time;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salva- 
tion." Christ  is  ready  to  heal  your  wounds  ;  to  bind  up  the 
broken  heart ;  to  set  the  captive  soul  at  liberty;  to  pour  the 
balm  of  gospel  grace  upon  your  bleeding  spirit,  and  fully  re- 
store you  to  moral  health  and  soundness  again.  With  the 
love  of  God  in  your  heart,  and  the  sweet  hope  of  eternal, 
life  before  you,  your  hard  camp  bed  will  be  as  soft  as  down  ; 
your  coarse  and  homely  fare  will  be  thankfully  received  ; 
your  privations  will  be  cheerfully  borne  ;  and,  with  a  calm 
resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  you  can  patiently  bear  up 
under  your  sufferings,  and  look  forward  with  joyful  hope  to 
the  hour  that  shall  terminate  your  bodily  pains,  and  intro- 
duce you  to"the  society  and  enjoyments  of  the -redeemed  in 
Heaven — 

"  Where  the  war-drums  throb  no  more, 
And  the  battle-flags  are  furl'd." 

What  will  you  gain  by  declining  to  act  upon  the  direc- 
tions given  in  the  pages  of  this  tract?  Suppose  you  become 
stoical.  Suppose  you  act  upon  the  false  sentiment  that  it  is 
unsoldlerly  to  show  any  feeling.  Suppose  you  successfully 
smother  down  your  sensibilities,  and  repress  your  rising 
emotions.  What  then  ?  Your  comrades  may  complimeut 
you,  and  call  -you  brave  and  heroic.  Suppose  you  drive 
away  serious  thoughts,  and    grieve   God's  Spirit    that  now 


*     7 

waits  to  sanctify  your  afflictions,  and  lead  you  to  the  cross 
of  Jesus.  What  then?  This  may  be  heaven's  last  effort  to 
save  you.  Refuse  to  repent  and  turn  to  the  Saviour  now, 
and  another  offer  of  salvation  may  never  be  made  to  you. 
The  wound  in  your  body  may  not  heal.  It  may  grow  worse, 
day  by  day,  until  death  steps  in  to  do  his  office,  and  sum- 
mon you  to  the  judgment.  ,0,  should  you  recover,  it  may 
be  only  to  go  into  battle  Tigain,  to  fall  suddrirfy,  without  a 
lingering  wound — to  go  from  the  gory  bed  of  death,  amid 
the  roar  of  artillery  and  the  dying  groans  of  the  slaughtered 
around  you,  into  the  presence  of  a  neglected  Saviour  and  an 
insulted  God,  to  hear  the  fearful  and  appalling  sentence, 
"  Depart,  depart-  into  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever." 
Once  more  the  writer,  who  is  a  stranger  to  you,  and  whose 
lace  you  may  never  see  till  we  meet  in  judgment,  entreats 
you  to  repent  and  come  to  Jesus.  His  arms  are  open  to 
receive  you.  With  more  than  the  compassion  of  your  own 
father  who  loves  you  ;  with  more  than  the  tenderness  with 
which  your  mother  would  embrace  her  long  absent  boy; 
wiih  more  affection  than  brother,  sister,  wife  or  friend  would 
greet  you  on  your  return  from  the  wars,  will  Jesus,  the  Sa- 
viour of  sinners,  hasten  to  meet  and  receive  you.  Do  not 
lay  down  this  tract  till  you  solemnly  resolve,  by  the  help  of 
Heaven,  to  profit  by  the  lessons  which  God  designs  to  teach 
by  "  the  casualties  of  war,"  as  they  are  called,  through 
which  you  have  passed  and  are  now  passing.   - 

But  my  reader  may  be  a  Christian.  How  have  you  been 
affected  by  your  wounding?  Have  you  murmured  against 
God  ?  Have  you  said  it  was  a  hard  lot  that  you  should  suf- 
fer far  away  from  home  and  friends?  Well,  it  is  hard  in  a 
certain  sense.  You  are  deprived,  it  may  be,  of  the  comforts 
and  sympathies  of  home.  You  may  not  have  those  around 
you  who  would  so  much  delight  to  dress  your  wounds  and 
-  soothe  your  pains.  You  may  keenly  feel,  where  you  now 
are,  that 

"  There  is  a  lack  of  woman's  nursing, 
And  dearth  of  woman's  tears." 


This  may  all  be  so  ;  and  yet,  "  there  is  a  friend  that  nicketh 
closer  than  a  brother."  "Wife,  mother,  sifter  and  little  one? 
may  not  be  near.  The  maimed  and  halt  may  be  \(\)- 
panions.  Scenes  of  suffering  and  distress  may  greet  ;. 
every  harrd.  Your  companions  in  arms,  one  alter  another, 
may  be  carried  to  the  grave.  But  still  God 'is  very  good  to 
you.  It  might  be  much  worse  with  you  than  it  really  is. 
The  wound  which  disables  you.might  be  worse.  Thank  Gjbd 
that  your  life  is  spared.  Cheer  up.  Bear  your  privations 
and  sufferings  with  Christian  resignation.  You  can  yet  do 
something  for  your  dear  Redeemer's  cause.  If  not  by  active 
labors,  at  least  -by  the  exercise  and  manifestation  of  the  pas- 
sive virtues.  By  gentleness,  patience,  and  long-suffering — by 
humble  resignation  in  the  Divine  will,  and  by  earnest  prayer, 
you  can  show  forth  the  sustaining  power  of  the  religion  of 
•Testis,:  and  thus  you  may  impress  the  minds  of  others,  as 
i  hey  ny$<er  would  be  affected  by  the  active  duties  of  religion. 
You  may  now  do  a  work  for  God's  cause  that  you  could  not 
accomplish  in  any  other  way.  Take  patiently  your  afflictions. 
<  lod'rt  hand  is  in,  them,  and  when  the  light  of  eternity  shall 
clear  up  the  mists  and  mysteries  of  time,  yen  will  shout  and 
rejoice  over  trmt  which  now  extracts  your  bitterest  tears. 
Your  sojourn  on  earth, is  brief.  Heaven  will  richly  reward 
you  for  all  the,  sorrows  and  afflictions  of  this  life;  for,  sait.h 
the  Apostle,  "  I  reckon  that  the  sulferings  of  this  present  time 
arc  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be 
revealed  in  us."  "For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  Imt  for 
a  moment,  vvorketh  k>r  us  a  far  more  es  B,nd  elernal 

weight  of  glory." 


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